AMD Sees Massive Software Support For Fusion APU

Sure, it's partially gloating, but it's also factual, and it speaks
volumes about the bright future ahead for AMD's long-awaited Fusion
platform. Consumers have literally waited years for Fusion to become a
reality, and now that the Zacate APU is finally shipping in notebooks,
it's still tough to believe this is all really happening. And now, AMD
is making big wins in the software space; a vital warzone that you
simply have to have support in if you want to gain overall market
traction. The company announced this week growing support from the PC
software community with more than 50 mainstream applications currently
accelerated by the new AMD Fusion Family of Accelerated Processing
Units.

Leading software companies including Adobe, ArcSoft, Corel, CyberLink
and Microsoft offer applications that are powered by Fusion, with Shawn
Cadeau, senior vice president, Global Marketing, Corel, having this to
say: "Whether you're making an HD movie or watching one, you want great
software powered by a processor that offers the speed, responsiveness
and battery life you need to accomplish your goals. By taking advantage
of the advances forged by AMD Fusion APUs, Corel
software products like WinDVD and VideoStudio Pro X4 will provide
consumers with a more immersive, enjoyable and creative video
experience. AMD is a great partner and we look forward to continuing to
work together to break down barriers and drive consumer adoption of
video on the PC."

There's no question that an APU is a goldmine for a software developer.
Having a powerful CPU and GPU on a single die makes life a lot easier
when it comes to coding, and knowing that you'll have a "real" GPU
attached to a CPU that isn't a power hog is also a boom. 50 app
developers is impressive for this short period, but based on the nice
Fusion results we've seen so far, we doubt the pace will be slowing
anytime soon.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced growing support from the PC software community with more than 50 mainstream applications currently accelerated by the new AMD Fusion Family of Accelerated Processing Units (APUs). The groundbreaking AMD Fusion APUs, available in PCs since early this year, help remove hardware barriers to allow software developers to deliver the most immersive computing experience possible.

Leading software companies including Adobe, ArcSoft, Corel, CyberLink and Microsoft offer applications that demonstrate exceptional visual performance, power efficiency and speed on PCs that are powered by AMD Fusion APUs as a result of such features as stutter-free HD video playback, breakthroughs in computational horsepower to handle the most demanding applications,1 DirectX 11-capable graphics and all-day battery life.2 AMD Fusion APUs, including the currently available AMD C-Series, E-Series and Embedded G-Series processors, accelerate applications ranging from video creation and playback, to 3D graphics and DirectX®11 games.3

“The huge number of applications that are ideally suited to benefit from the performance and stunning graphics offered by AMD Fusion processors is testament to our close collaboration with leading software developers,” said John Taylor, director of Client Product and Software Marketing, AMD. “We anticipate doubling the number of applications in the next few months as we approach the launch of the A-Series “Llano” APU, the next member of the AMD Fusion family that is designed to enable more than 500 GFLOPs of parallel processing power in mainstream notebooks and desktops.”4

Although some developers are skilled at leveraging parallel programming for high-performance computing applications, most mainstream PC software previously has been limited to relying on either the CPU or GPU. AMD Fusion APUs help remove these limitations by incorporating multi-core CPU (x86) technology, a powerful DirectX®11-capable discrete-level graphics and parallel processing engine, a dedicated high-definition video acceleration block, and a high-speed bus – all on a single die. This design brings supercomputer-like performance to everyday computing tasks to allow applications to take full advantage of the available processing power of both the CPU and GPU, and do so faster than previous designs in the same class.1

"Whether you're making an HD movie or watching one, you want great software powered by a processor that offers the speed, responsiveness and battery life you need to accomplish your goals," said Shawn Cadeau, senior vice president, Global Marketing, Corel. "By taking advantage of the advances forged by AMD Fusion APUs, Corel software products like WinDVD and VideoStudio Pro X4 will provide consumers with a more immersive, enjoyable and creative video experience. AMD is a great partner and we look forward to continuing to work together to break down barriers and drive consumer adoption of video on the PC."

“The visual performance that consumers can experience when running our PowerDVD application on APU-powered systems is nothing short of stunning, due in large part to the DirectX 11-capable graphics, AMD’s Unified Video Decoder and HD 2.0 features of the APU,” said Alice H. Chang, chief executive officer of CyberLink. “We’re excited to work side-by-side with AMD to deliver this unparalleled computing experience and anticipate consumers to embrace the evolution of PC technology.”

A broad range of applications can be accelerated by AMD Fusion APUs, including popular software from such leading companies as:

New generations of desktop, notebook and tablet PCs, as well as HD netbooks based on AMD Fusion APUs also offer the VISION Engine from AMD. Selecting a PC equipped with the VISION Engine and software from AMD partners means Internet browsing is a fast, application-like experience; 1080p HD video playback is gorgeous, smooth and quiet; standard definition video looks high-definition; 2D content can be converted into stereoscopic 3D; even the most graphics-intensive websites load quickly; manipulating HD content is fast and easy; and 3D gaming at HD resolutions is fast and life-like.5AMD Fusion Developer Summit

As a leader in heterogeneous computing and a champion for industry standards, a key initiative for AMD is to help software developers learn how to leverage the potential performance improvements offered by the latest hardware technology and APU-based PC platforms. To that end, AMD will host the AMD Fusion Developer Summit to discuss industry standards and explore how to best optimize applications for heterogeneous computing.

The inaugural AMD Fusion Developer Summit (AFDS) will be held June 13-16, 2011 in Bellevue, Washington. AFDS will gather developers, academics and emerging innovators to learn more about heterogeneous computing, APU technology, parallel processing and developer programs like the AMD Fusion Fund.